1. By Monique Fearon

2.  Feminism has been a recognised social philosophy for more than forty years, and the
changes that have occurred in women's roles in western society during that time have
been nothing short of phenomenal. Yet media representations of women remain
worryingly constant. Does this reflect that the status of women has not really changed or
that the male-dominated media does not want to accept it has changed?
Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:
 Beauty (within narrow conventions)
 Size/physique (again, within narrow conventions)
 Sexuality (as expressed by the above)
 Emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings
 Relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)
 Women are often represented as being part of a context (family, friends, colleagues)
and working/thinking as part of a team.
 In drama, they tend to take the role of helper (Propp) or object, passive rather than
active. Often their passivity extends to victimhood . Men are still represented as TV
drama characters up to 3 times more frequently than women, and tend to be the
predominant focus of news stories.

3.  The representations of women that do make it onto
page and screen do tend to be stereotypical, in
terms of conforming to societal expectations, and
characters who do not fit into the mould tend to be
seen as dangerous and deviant. And they get their
comeuppance, particularly in the movies. Think of
Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction or, more
recently, Teena Brandon/Brandon Teena (Hilary
Swank) in Boys Don't Cry. America seems to expect its
women to behave better than their European
counterparts - British viewers adored the antics of
Patsy & Edina in Absolutely Fabulous, but these had
to be severely toned down (less swearing, NO drug
taking) for the US remake, High Society.